IT was a day I can never forget. I was waiting in my seat in the Singapore National Theatre where they were to appear for two shows that night.
    "They" were the Herman's Hermits.
    There was much excitement in the atmosphere as we waited anxiously for this famous group. When they finally appeared on the stage, they were immediately greeted with claps and screams.
    When Herman (or Peter Noone as he would rather we call him) started singing, the audience showed their appreciation in no uncertain manner. Their enthusiasm had groups of them dashing down the aisles to throw gifts, hankies and notes onto the stage.
    I saw girls standing up and stamping their feet; some were screaming madly, others were pulling their hair and sobbing hysterically.
    Things were different for me. Had I the capacity to express my feelings for this wonderful group and their singing, I would have done so, and got up on my feet to stamp and cry.
    But I could not. I sat still the whole night in some kind of delightful stupor, enjoying the music, and wishing to the very bottom of my heart that I could meet the Herman's Hermits personally.
    I saw Peter and his friends wave to the crowd and smile at the girls in front.
    I could but only wish I had a seat in the front row so that I could be the lucky one they looked down on and smiled.
    But I was far back int he crowd, and they couldn't see me even if they tried.
    If only their singing would go on and on and never end - indeed for some time they did just that, singing song after song.
    How ecstatic I felt as many of the songs I love were sung by Peter that night.
    As I looked around and saw the happy faces of the people around me, my admiration for pop music and pop singers deepened. God alone knows how young people today feel and react to things; pop music is the solution to their difficult moods.
    When I am older, perhaps these difficult moods will pass away, and perhaps I would not be so crazy over pop music as I am today.
    But while I am still the upside down teenager that I am, and while my liking for Peter Noone and his Hermits exists, I shall always have the wish that I may meet and talk with them one day.